The Columbus Crew announced today that the club has been allocated Argentine forward Silvio Rudman by Major League Soccer.
The 6-1, 180-pound Rudman started his professional career in 1987, playing for Argentinos Juniors, where he scored 30 goals in three years with the club. He then moved on to Independiente for half a season before spending the 1991-92 year with Japanese club Ana. He then moved to Mexico for stints with First Division clubs Veracruz and Atlas before returning to Argentina to spend the 1994-95 campaign with fabled First Division club Boca Juniors, for whom he tallied eight goals. He went back to Mexico with First Division club Toros Neza in 1995, and spent the past season with Italian Serie B club Padova, the former club of New England’s Alexi Lalas and Tampa Bay’s Giuseppe Galderisi.
“Rudman is a very big, aggressive forward who will score goals and complement Brian McBride very well up front,” said Crew head coach Tom Fitzgerald. “His wealth of experience will be a big asset for us, and will help us jump start our offensive firepower.”
Rudman has not been activated yet, but it is likely that he will join Columbus in Denver this weekend, and could possibly see action when the Crew take on the Colorado Rapids April 5.